♪ good morning. i'm bill karins and this "way too early." the show that sadly realizes we have no shot at the hall of fame due to my steroid use. we have a lot to talk about this morning, including another nomination for the cabinet that could have impact on the meeting. but first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. joe biden will meet with representatives of the nra as he

prepares to hand president obama a list of recommendations on gun reform. yesterday, during a meeting, biden said that the president was ready to get gun reform done with or without the help of congress. >> we're here today to deal with a problem that requires immediate action, urgent action and the president and i are determined to take action. i want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion, unless we can do everything we're going to do nothing. the president is going to about, executive action that can be taken. we haven't decided what that is yet. i don't think anything has touched the american people so proprofoundly than those young people being riddled with bullets.

every once in a while, someone awakens the conscience of the country. that tragic event did in a way like i have never seen in my career. former president clinton is also speaking out on the issue. the availability of high-capacity of magazines is nuts. gun retailers including walmart will be adding their input. during the state of tate address, new york governor cuomo proposed the toughest plan. requiring background checks for all gun sales. >> this is not taking away people's guns. i own a gun. i own a remington shotgun. i hunted. i've shot. this isn't what this is about. it's about ending the

unnecessary risk of hi high-capacity assault rifles. that's what this is about. i say to you, forget the extremists. it's simple -- no one hunts with an assault rifle, no one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer! and too many innocent people have died already. and the madness now -- >> dannell malloy struggled to contain his emotions while reflecting on the newtown shooting. >> we during the worst molt we also saw the best, a principal and teachers protecting their students. a principal and school psychologist, that ran into

harm's way. our brave connecticut state troopers, newtown's local law enforcement and firemen and others that responded courages youly. when it comes to prevent future acts of violence in our schools, let me say this, more guns are not the answer. let me bclear, freedom is n hdg teacher and security should not mean security guard posted outside every class room. that's not who we are in the connecticut. >> governor malloy will join us ahead on "morning joe." back in washington x president obama's chief of staff jack lew is expected to be nominated as secretary of treasury replacing timothy geithn geithner.

underscoring a focus within the white house on the fiscal battles to come. including a showdown on the debt ceiling. look at his signature. here's what it would look like on its dollar bill. it makes my chicken scratch look good. hilda solis announced that she's resigning. eric holder is staying on at least for now. also remaining on the job secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius. ray lahood the only republican in the cabinet hasn't signaled whether or not he's leaving this administration. hill kri clinton will be stepping down from her post in the coming weeks. we're not going to call it retirement? >> retirement? >> i don't know if that's the word i would use.

certainly stepping off the very fast track for a little while. >> the obama administration pushing back after a picture taken in the oval office, this image by the photographer was featured on the front page yesterday of the "new york times." a group of men meeting with president. with top positions at the state, defense and treasury departments all offered recently to males, jay carney was asked about the gender issue. >> janet napolitano is secretary of home land security. this president has appointed, has made two appointments to the supreme court, both of them women and i think his commitment -- >> do you think it's an unfair charge? >> i think the record speaks for itself.

>> the white house responded by posting a photo online featuring a more diverse crowd. the highest women in george w. bush's cabinet 24%. bill clinton has both of them beat. these numbers don't include female presidential advisers. in health news, one of the worst flu outbreaks in years getting worse. check this map out, showing the extent of the problem, all of the states colored in red are reporting quote widespread flu activity. >> reporter: at boston's brigham hospital, veteran nurse has seen it all >> i have been working here for

27 years in the e.r. >> reporter: but she's never seen a flu season quite like this. >> we have seen a huge increase of patients coming in with nausea, vomiting, diarrhear, coughs, body aches. >> reporter: boston's mayor is warning the threat is very serious. so far this season, there have been approximately 700 cases in this season alone. across the united states, schools in some areas are temporarily closed or postponing extracurricular activities. now some hospitals are restricting visitors or prohibiting them all together. and it's getting worse >> it's come back early and rather fiercely. so, we're having a moderate to severe influenza season.

>> 63-year-old beverly moss said her symptoms started suddenly >> it was like something hit me like a mack truck and i just felt sick all over, aches and pains immediately. chills, fever, no appetites. >> her prescription for recovery, oxygen and fluids. she's still one of the lucky ones she got a room. patients are being seen in the hallway and beds are being made into what's normally the e.r. waiting area. >> expected to get worse in the next couple of weeks. dr. nancy snooyderman this morning. a cleaning service worker at the ft. lauderdale worker, he found an ipad, stashed inside $13,000, rather than keep it for

himself, he returned to the security office the ipad's owner gave him 60 bucks. to show his gratitude, which the saintly morgan promptly divided and gave away to a homeless woman and another co-worker in need yesterday. hats off to patrick morgan, role model for us all. in honor of patrick, tell us a moment of charity. lady dropped 20 bucks in the sidewalk, scared her to death, tracked her down and returned it. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on "way too early" -- the steroid era gets snubbed. barry bonds, roger clemens. despite many with hall-worthy numbers no one is getting in at all this year. later, jimmy kimmel has

settled into his new 11:35 tr s transition. get a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. i have committed more than 20,000 additional troops to iraq the vast majority of them, five brigades will be deployed to baghdad. now is the time to act. so you say men are superior drivers?

yeah. then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands?

let's keep the good times rolling. spring thaw. well in effect across the country. how long is it going to last? when will it get cool again? >> one question that i can't

answer there. we're actually going to see a lot of rain move into the gulf coast region, this is part of the system that's going to help push some of that warmer air into the weekend. but now it's all about the rain. across eastern texas. it comes with a lot of thunderstorms, too, we could see isolated tornadoes. down along the south coast of louisiana. freegt ground to cloud lightning. but notice how it's not moving eastward too quickly. it will sit over that area. temperatures today will be above average, it's already above average for our high temperatures right now early this morning, temps will eventually get into the mid-40s. tomorrow we'll see some of those showers work in late in the day. bill, you decided to slack off

and not do weather for couple of days. >> that's my new year's resolution. >> work less. >> doing well so far. let's turn now for sports. for the second time in the past four decades not a single player elected to enter the hall of fame. giving clemens, bonds, mcguire and sosa far less than the 75% of the votes needed to be enshrined. craig biggio received just over 68%. the last year that no players were elected were 1966. here now is mike barnacle, mike, message received loud and career? >> yes. it was a resounding vote against the steroid era. some players who will eventually get into the hall of fame once

the steroid era is declared, some players were voted -- not voted into the hall of fame just based on suspicion. if you were suspicious that certain players were on steroids and you're a sports writers and you didn't write about it and now you're voting against them because of a suspicion that you had 10, 15 years ago, there's an element of hipocrisy. >> what is your solution? >> you know, first of all, it ought to be hard to get into the hall of fame. i think eventually they'll have to rejigger how many votes they have. maybe maybe it 100 voters. who are representative of the

era in which they're voting. 75 of 100 votes to get into the hall of fame. >> who's going to be the first one to get in, if any? >> maybe jeff bagwell or mike piazza. >> educated me this morning. thanks, mike. let's turn to the nba, where carmelo anthony's off-court confrontation with kevin garnett has earned him a one-game suspension. anthony waited for garnett near the celtics locker room and then near the team bus. knicks/celtics meet again in boston two weeks from today. more from the nba the lakers without pa ga sol and dwight howard trying to stop a four-game skid in san antonio,

good luck with. third quarter, lakers down 13, kobe bryant scored 25 in the game. still in the third quarter, kobe drives, acrobatic circus shot, this was a 9-0 run for the lakers. kobe off the rim, miss. three seconds left. no. the lakers have now lost a season-high five straight games. while the lakers have struggled l.a.'s other team the best team the clippers, they beat the mavs last night. they have the nba's best record, 28-6. coming up at top of the hour on "morning joe" -- president obama taps a veteran to head up the treasury department in his second term.

what jack lew's nomination means. a when we come back here -- we'll huddle around the watercooler. what will ferrell thought he was booked for, when "way too early" comes right back. i got your campbell's chunky soup. mom? who's mom? i'm the giants mascot. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. she operates the head. i need you. i feel so alone. but you're not alone. i knew you'd come.

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well we told you at the top

of the hour vice president biden will meet with representatives from the nra today before giving president obama his recommendations on gun control. one of biden's likely recommendations will be to close the loopholes that allow some gun purchasers avoid background checks. according to the tatf bureau there are were over 10 million firearm background checks performed in the united states in the first six months of 2012. enough with the real news. let's gather around the watercooler to watch the latest edition of mark wahlberg's career. wahlberg was in philly the last few days for the premier of his latest film. he took on a role that i could have helped him with, reporting weather and traffic at the local station. >> come on, get with this.

perfect golf weather coming up. the average for this time of year for january is about 30. >> that says 54. >> 40 is the average. what is the record high? 54. >> the record for today is 68. >> let me give the seven-day forecast. look at sunday, 60 degrees. just like spring. with a row of 43. look at this. look at this congestion here. we're expecting 45-minute delays. you're going to have some serious problems. >> all right traffic was okay. for weather, if spring load, 45-degree angle. left arm, keep that a little less stiff. if you want to practice, i did this in college, stand in the mirror in bathroom, point to objects behind you and you'll

realize how it works. it was jimmy kimmel's second night hosting his jimmy kimmel live in its new time slot. a guest interrupted his show. >> hey, will. >> hey, jimmy. >> how is it going? >> what's up. >> just doing the show. >> what's up with you? >> now? >> yeah, abc moved us up to 11:35. so we're on now earlier. >> right. >> i used the studio at 11:30 for my qvc knife show. >> i didn't know. >> that's okay. >> i'm in the middle of my show. >> i have knives to sale. only a few of these beauties

left. say hello to the nonstick razor-steel samurai sword. this cuts through warm butter likes it's warm butter. >> that's fantastic, will. you're done? >> not even close. let's bring out some guests who have some more stuff to slice ryan? >> what are you doing here? we sell knives at 11:30 >> i didn't know. i didn't see the sheet i never read the sheet we have been here for three months. >> i didn't know. i don't know how this is my fault. >> it doesn't matter, ryan. let's get to chopping cookie dough. cotton candy. chocolate milk. >> ryan gosling with the italian ices. four easy payments of $19.77.

will ferrell's greatest work from old school. >> streaking. >> sorry, sorry, we're going streaking through the quad and into the gymnasium. come on, everybody, come on! we're streaking. come on, come on! whoo, whoo! we're streaking! we're streaking! >> still ahead on "way too early" -- why are you awake, your tweets, texts and e-mails. what have you done for charity, if anything? "morning joe" now just moments away. ♪

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